The Merry Adventures of Will Scarlett
by My-Username-Sucks14
Summary: Will Scarlett has had a hard life. Her mom is dead, her dad drunkenly beats her and she hasn't seen her brother in over ten years. She can fight better than many men and has a temper to match. What happens when she joins Robin Hood and finds her brother again? But come on, how much trouble can one sixteen year old cause? Rated T cause I feel like it.
1. Chapter 1

**ok so thank you for all of those who looked past the crappy summary and decided to read it anyways. THANK YOU! I am terrible at summaries. Always have been. ****I've been sitting on this story for a while. **

**So basically Will Scarlett is a girl in this story. Yeps. She is 16, homeless and awesome at kicking butt with her trusty knives but she can also shoot cause her brother taught her before he left. She's quite the badass (if I do say so myself) and doesn't like it when people judge her because she is a girl. Let's see where this story takes us, shall we?**

**CHAPTER ONE**

**Will POV**

"Will, do you have to go?" ten-year old Angela asked teary eyed.

"Yeah, Angel. I'm going to London. I'll be back. I'll see you at Christmas. I promise. But everybody in this town needs the money I can make there."

"But what about Robin Hood? He can get us the money! He helps people! That's what Papa used to say." said Ella. She said that to calm down Angela, I knew but I could see that even at 14, in her situation, she wanted to believe it too.

Robin Hood. The very name made me nauseous. Off course I knew of Robin Hood. The supposed Prince of Thieves. He was rumored to trick rich nobles out of their money and give it to the needy. Well, here was the town I was in, and beside the gold coins that occasionally were found, there was no reason to believe he existed. Bedtime stories to calm a young child's starving belly and ease their desperate minds. But here I was, with a small group of kids around me living in the dirty alleys, with barely enough food for a bite each. Sometimes, I would risk a trip to Sherwood for a bit of meat and the whole village would feast on venison and sit around fires, laughing as we ate illegal meat.

"Will?" I turned and smiled at Warren.

"Will...I…"

"Yeah?"

"I...come home soon. OK, Will?"

I nodded and hugged him, "I'll see you again before you know it. Take care of them."

He slowly wrapped his arms around me. A few seconds later, we were still in that position, and my defenses started kicking in. I tensed.

"Uh, Warren? You can let me go now."

He pulled black blushing, "Sorry" he muttered.

I shrugged and attached my knives to my waist.

"Bye!" Angel cried harder.

Pulling her into a tight hug, I pushed back tears. Angel was my favorite. She was the one that lead me to this place when I was sobbing, and covered in soot from the ashes after three days. Yeah...that's a long story. Well, long story short, the asshole sheriff burned my family home to the ground while a different asshole, aka my dad, was passed out drunk inside. I don't think he realizes I wasn't in there too. But like I said...asshole.

"Angel, I have to leave."

She shook her head and held tighter, "But what if you never come back? What if you love London more than us and decide to stay and you don't want me anymore?" she sobbed.

Prying her off, I crouched to her level and wiped at her tears, "Angel, look at me. Nothing, and I mean Nothing, will ever keep me from coming back for you. No matter what happens. Even if London is the most beautiful and wonderful place in the world, I will hate it because you're not there to brighten my day. I will always come for you. OK?"

She nodded and I stepped back, "See you later." I said and walked away.

The soft tune I whistled through the trees echoed slightly in the warm air. I could sense someone watching me but honestly, I was in way too fine a mood to care. I was alone. I was free. I mean I love those kids to death, and I would do anything for them, but it was so nice to only worry about myself for once. Just me. The idea of being alone used to terrify me. I would cry myself to sleep every night after the fire because I was afraid that when I woke up, Angel and Ella and Warren would have left. I was broken. I have been since I was three, but I used to hide it so well. But now, I still flinch when someone touches me or lifts their hand near me. I guess I healed. But I don't know.

Lost in thought, I didn't notice the huge man blocking my path until I tumbled backwards to the ground.

"Woah there, girl" he laughed.

I scowled, leaping to my feet and drew my knives.

He laughed again, "Girl, put those away, before you hurt yourself. I ain't being responsible for ya slicin' yerself open there."

I glared at him, "Try me."

"An' its disrespectful to beat a girl. Yer gonna make me look like an oversized brute, you are." He continued ignoring me.

I sighed, "I don't have time for this. I need to be at the Blue Boar Inn by nightfall" and glanced at the darkening red horizon.

"Girl, if you go to that inn all by yerself, especially dressed like that, yer gonna get yerself eaten alive by them patrons"

"I think I can handle myself, thank you very much. My only problem with men right now, is you."

He laughed again, "Girl, I like your spirit. Put yer little toys away. I'll walk ya to the inn."

I shook my head, "I'll be fine thanks." and brushed past him, but he just fell into step beside me with no trouble keeping up.

"Name's John. My friends all call me Little John." he said, rolling his eyes.

I stopped. Little John?

"Little John?"

"Yeah, well it's a joke. I guess. 'Cause Little is actually me last name, and I'm really big."

"No. Little John? As in Robin Hood and Merry Men and all that?"

"Yep. Suppose I am. He's my best friend. So, Girl, what's yer name? Seems unfair that you know mine."

I snorted. Very unlady-like, "Hell no. But you can tell your friend something for me. You can tell him that he's a right bastard and absolutely no help whatsoever to most of us. And that there are little kids being raised by teenagers in alleyways thank to his so called "help" and if he really wanted to help, he would give food and go further than the outer farms. And you know what else? You can-"

He interrupted my angry tirade with a shrill whistle, "Well Girl, if you have such a problem with Robin Hood, you should tell him yerself. I am a simple outlaw and my memory isn't the same."

I backed away, "NO! I… YOU-" I stuttered.

I kept walking backwards, hoping to find a low hanging branch to grab but bumped into someone.

Turning, I grabbed at my knives again. The man was around my height, with a handsome, young-looking face. His outfit matched that of John's. He grinned and shook his head at the knives. And suddenly twenty or so men of varying sizes surrounded me, none as big as Little John's, but all dressed the same. And all had arrows or swords aimed straight at me.

Well, shit Will, girl. Nice going. Now every forest dweller is ready to gut you.

"Aw, Lil' John. She sure isn't anything to be callin' about. Look at her." said the guy that I had backed into.

"Sure she don't look like much. But I'm guessin' by the way she talks and holds them little prickers, she could seriously injure one of us Much." he replied.

"Uh. Still right here. Stop talking about me as if I wasn't!" I complained.

"Aw, Girl. Put those away before a finger slips off a string." Little John told me.

"Listen, asshole. My name is not Girl. And I'll be damned to Hell if you think for one second that I'm just gonna lower my best defense with all y'alls arrows aimed at me."

"Wow, girl's got some bite to her. I see what ye mean, John. Should we take her to Rob?" another asked, stringing his bow back over his shoulder.

"That's what I was thinkin'. She has some choice words for him anyways. Plus, maybe she knows somethin'. At any rate, there's no sense in shootin' her so ye might as well drop the arrows."

I looked around. Behind the unarmed guy there was a tree i had a chance of getting up if I could get past the men. I could outrun them on the branches and the innkeeper, Ron could keep them away if I got there first.

Shifting to face him, I smiled at John at replaced my weapons at my hips.

"There, see now. We won't hurt ya. We just-Oy!"

I took off at a full sprint and slid under the lowered-bow guy's arm before vaulting into the trees. They all crowded around the base trying to find me but I had already lept six trees over and landed back on the ground.

"OY! GET BACK 'ERE!" the boy, Much, I think, shouted. I could here someone pounding after me, a lot faster than I was going. Knowing Blue Boar's was just around the next corner I began shouting, "Ron! Ron! Help! Ron!" over and over.

Rounding the corner, he came out just as the inn came into view. He looked shocked to see me sprinting full speed towards him.

"Woah, Wilda, calm down. What's wrong?"

"Okay, 1. my name is Will. Short for Wila. Not Wilda. and 2. They're after me."

"Whose after-Oh." he sighed, "It's Much. You best go inside. Have my wife fix you up something for dinner."

I nodded my thanks.

The inside of the inn was nothing special. Seriously. It was just a big wooden space with splintering and chipped blue (hence the name) tables and chairs. A rickety staircase led up to the rooms and a bar stood between the eating space and the kitchens.

"Oh, Will. Yer finally here! i was so worried you had gotten lost or robbers or…" Sally trailed off and tucked a stray piece of tangled dirty-blonde hair behind her ear. She looked distressed. Ash and dirt spotted her rosy cheeks and she smiled at me with tired eyes, "But it don't matter. You are here now. Let me get you some food."

"Thanks Sally. Ron said he will be right in." I smiled already calming down at the thought of her thick vegetable stew.

**MUCH POV**

I panted as I rounded the corner after the girl. I slowed as she skidded to a halt in front of Ron. He was a good friend and I hoped he would hold her until I could get my tired legs to drag themselves another quarter mile. My pace quickened when the girl hugged him and slipped inside.

"Ron." I called, "I need to bring the girl back with me. Little John insists on her seeing Robin."

He glared at me, "Now listen here, boy. You and yer friends aren't going to touch a hair on that girl's head. I will not allow you to turn that poor girl into one of yer fighters. I will not have it!"

"But Ron!" I protested.

"Don't you give me that look! That girl has been through more than all those Merry Men put together and she could probably beat all of you too if she wanted to dirty her knives. Now you are all going to leave her alone in peace. You can just go tell your boss that he can't use her in the war. No sir."

I tried protesting again but he shook his head and went inside. Well then.

I trudged back home slowly, dreading having to explain this. I just lost a girl. I was going to be the laughing stock of the group when I explained it.

"Much! Did you get her?" asked Alan the moment I walked in.

"Uh. No."

"Well, boy. Where is this girl I've been hearing so much about." asked Robin.

"I lost her." I said shamefully.

"Well, she seems to be quite the woman. She managed to evade your advances quite well. Call up a meeting. We must figure out how to deal with this intruder." he laughed.

"this meeting is called to discuss a disturbance in our fair Sherwood." Robin said standing by a fire. Everyone else circled, trying to be closest to the heat. Unfortunately, around 100 men don't quite fit around one fire.

"Aye. the girl." called David, "She's looks quite harmless. But her tongue cuts sharper than the blades she threatened with."

Everyone laughed at this.

"I talked to her for a bit. She seemed very un-trusting. She refused to even give her name. Although she didn't take well to hearing who I was or that I was one of yer men." Little John added, "she actually used some very unladylike language to describe how she felt." We all laughed again. And yes, we do laugh a lot.

"She managed to dodge around David and climb a tree. Next thing we know she's hits the ground halfway down the road and makes a run for it." he said, "I sent Much after her. He was the fastest of all of us."

"Well I almost caught her, mind you. The innkeeper let her in then started yelling at me. He said she had been through a lot and he doesn't want you to recruit her. But he also believes she could win in a fight against us if she tried. Apparently she's amazing with those knives. She had a bow too but she never nocked it. Not once."

Robin looked thoughtful, "I would like to meet her. We need to send someone to intercept her. But he can't frighten her or use force. Just talk. Convince her to meet with us." We all shifted uncomfortably, knowing that anyone of us would probably put the girl on edge.

"I can go. I am a man of the church, despite the company I keep," he broke off and chuckled, "I will go and plan to meet her soon after she leaves."

Robin looked relieved, "Thank you Tuck."

**HEY! So if you liked it: REVIEW! If you hated it: REVIEW! I you didn't have an opinion, well then get one and REVIEW! **

**Yep. I have the seconds chapter all ready. I will tweak it depending on feedback, but as I write it, it is definelty getting better! I swear, even if you hated this chapter because it is badly written, it will improve! A lot! I have another chapter and a half typed so if I get reviews I will update weekly if I can!**


	2. Snakes and Sisters

**OK! So, chapter two. Sorry it's up so late! I was going to update on Sunday, but I was editing this a little. I got an awesomely long review from someone who brought up that it seemed really modern in the way Will spoke and stuff, so I tried to fix that! I promise!**

**Ok. So a two cookies for my two reviewers: Graceaga and i'm walking on sunshine ! YAY!**

**And one cookie for anyone that favorited/ followed. WHY NO REVIEW AS WELL?**

**anywho- I got so excited when the follows/favs/reviews showed up that I actually did bake cookies :)**

**ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER:**

**CHAPTER 2**

**WILL POV**

"And watch out for the Merry Men. I don't have any power to keep them away once you leave."

"Yes Ron. I know. Calm down."

"And visit us when you get back! We haven't seen you in years dear!" Sally added.

"You will be the first to know." I assured her.

"Oh. I've missed you! You haven't come around since your father...and before that you barely came after your brother left. Will, please be careful!London is a dangerous place." she sniffled.

Women. They were always so emotional about this stuff. My mom was never like this. Neither am I.

"I'll be back before Christmas Eve. Maybe I shall bring the others too." I said fake cheerily, knowing that Warren would never agree.

Ron nodded, "You better get going now. You will want to farther away from these parts before you make camp."

Waving goodbye, I set out on the road, whistling softly. When the sun was high in sky I sank to the ground below a large shady oak tree._Ugh! This is taking so long!_ I complained to myself as I pulled out the little pieces of bread and cheese. At this rate, I will not reach my hoped for camping spot. Which would leave me in danger of running into the Merry Men again.

"Hey there!" shouted a jolly voice. I lept to my feet with my knives drawn.

"Peace child. I only wished to see if you could spare a seat and some food for my weary self." said a fat little man smiling, "My name is Friar Tuck. I have been on quite the journey so far. All I have for my belly is a sip or two of ale."

I grinned. His smile was infectious, "Come on then. I don't have much, but I think can spare a bite of food for a drink." And sat back down. He laughed, "Thank you child."

"Will." I said, "I am called Will."

"Well, Will, bless you. This is the best meal I have had all day." I laughed again,

"It better be, you're eating it all. Pass the ale."

"Here lass, so where are you headed off to?"

"London, I suppose." I shrugged as I took a sip, "'Hopin' to find some work or other. I need money so I can return to my sisters with happy news by Christmas."

"I'm headin' there myself. Care for some company?" he asked.

"Weren't you walking the road to Nottingham?" I asked. He looked so lost for words when I pointed that out, looking back and forth down the road before chuckling again,

"Why Miss Will, I suppose I was. I'm always lost, I am. Perhaps traveling together would benefit me more than you."

"Well let us go, then. I would hate to have a Friar's bad luck on my conscious."

I hadn't made it more than a few feet when a large yellow snake landed in a heap in front of us. The friar backed away, leaving me to face it as it rose to eye level. I couldn't help it, I screamed and tripped backwards, breathing heavily. As it rose above me, my stomach clenched.

"Lass, crawl backwards slowly. Let me deal with it." he called.

I whimpered as it bared it's fangs.

"AHHHH!" I could hear Friar Tuck rushing at it, hopefully with some sort of weapon. The snake recoiled, hissing, before spitting at my face. It stung like a thousand needles were piercing my skull.

"It's in my eyes. Oh, Lord! Oh, God! It's in my eyes." I wailed.

"Lass, it's fine. The beast is dead. Just-"

"It's in my eyes. Oh, God! I can't see!" I sobbed, "I can't see! Oh! It hurts. My eyes." I sobbed.

"Will, blink. It will come out. Just blink. I can get it out. But you have to trust me. It's not that far."

"My eyes. It got my eyes. Oh, Lord, it's in my eyes." I cried as he led me blindly around trees.

"Lass, we're almost there." someone soothed.

I whimpered with tears still streaking down my face. "S-S-Sssnake. My eyes. It stings. Snake…" I kept pressing on my eyes, hunched over, "Snake. There was a snake. My eyes. I can't see. Lord help!" I sobbed again.

"Good God, Tuck. What did you do to the poor girl?" a distantly familiar voice asked.

I could hear him explaining to the disembodied voices and someone carried my shaking body and lay me down.

"My eyes. Make it stop. It hurts!" I moaned again.

Something was pressed to my lips, "Eat this." someone commanded.

"No!" I refused, "Stop. Make it stop." "This will fix yer eyes, Girl." and I swallowed.

"It's in my eyes." I cried again and passed out.

_TIME SKIP O_O_

When I came back to consciousness, I was lying on a pallet, with a roughly hewn blanket covering me. The air smelt strongly of herbs and I wrinkled my nose.

Sitting up, I could see the sunlight drifting in through the flap serving as a door.

"Hello?" I called. When no one answered I threw off the blanket and walked out the door. And Holy Lord, was that light bright. When my eyes adjusted I could see people. At least a hundred were milling around, sitting on logs around a fire or sharing the shade of a tree. They all wore green tunics and hose, some with hoods, some without and everybody was laughing or smiling as they ate something out of a bowl. My own stomach growled.

"Will, child, you're awake!" cried Tuck merrily.

"Friar Tuck, why am I here?" I asked.

"Well, there was this snake. And the poison…"

"Yes, but why did you bring me _here_? This place. I tried so hard to avoid it and now you have brought me here. Why?"

"Well, all my medical herbs and remedies are here. This is where I have been living for maybe six years or so. I was asked to bring you here."

I gasped at his, "You're...you're one of _them_? I trusted you! I gave you food! I-"

"Girl, it's so nice to see you again!" boomed a familiar voice. Little John walked towards me grinning, "How are yer eyes. Snake venom. You were curled over and sobbing by the time this guy got you here."

Friar Tuck excused himself to grab some food.

I flushed, "Snakes and me don't really get along. I'm afraid of very little but snakes top the list."

"Well, we got the venom out. Ye should be right as rain as long as ye don't see no more of them suckers. You been out for three days. Ya hungry?" he asked gesturing to the large pot over the stove.

"No. I'm sorry to have bothered you. But really, I must get going. Three days! I need to get to London." I explained.

"No ye don't, Girl. Boss wants a word with ye. He should be out any second now. Robin Hood wants ter meet ye, Girl."

I gritted my teeth, "I don't want to meet your boss and my name is not Girl."

"Well what is it then?" A new, amused voice joined the conversation.

"Well that's none of your damn business." I turned to face the newcomer and gaped.

His smile widened and his blue eyes danced with mirth, "Well, John, I seemed to have rendered our guest speechless."

"Robin Hood." I gritted my teeth, "You are Robin Hood."

"At your service my lady."

"I do not want for you to be at my service. I want you to let me go."

He tsked, "Now, now, lady. Is that anyway to treat your rescuers? You would be blind if not for these men. Yet, you seem ungrateful."

"I am very grateful. Snakes have given me an awful fright since I was a child."

"You seem to think help was unneeded."

"Not unneeded, unwanted. I do not need to owe a favor to anybody."

"My mother, bless her soul, always told me that she would rather owe one hundred favors than die one hundred times."

I smiled faintly, "My mother said that too. That, however, does not mean that I agree."

"I have a proposition. Tell me your name and where you are from. The debt shall be considered repaid and I will have one of my men show you to the road." he smiled coaxingly.

I frowned, "Why do you want to know?"

"You stood up to Little John, who is twice your size, twenty of my men, and me. I merely wish to know who has such audacity."

"The good Friar knows my name. Why not just ask him for it and let me be on my way?"

"It is not my name to give, lass." he said, "trust us. We will not harm you."

I turned slowly back to Hood and drew myself up to my full height, "I am the the former Lady Willa of Locksley Manor. My father was Lord of Locksley and these woods. And you, sir, are wearing thin on my patience. " I claimed haughtily.

My words had the desired effect. All over the clearing, men gaped openly at me. Robin Hood's own jaw had dropped, but there was something more than surprise in his eyes.

"Prove it," he challenged.

I pulled out half an empty locket from where it hung underneath my shirt, "See? This is half of the Locksley crest on it. My brother held the other half."

His expression cleared, "Will. You are Will!" he cried, springing forward to wrap his arms around me, "You are Will!"

"Yes! I am Will. Now please let me go."

He stepped back and pulled a chain from where it was wrapped around his leather belt. Half a carved L intertwining with trees gleamed in the sunlight. I reached out to touch it,

"The other half. This is the other half of my necklace. The piece-"

"You gave to me the day our father tried to kill you. And when I stopped him, he told me to leave or he would slit your throat. You gave me this when I promised to come back for you when I could."

I looked at him. It finally clicked. Robin Hood. Robin Hood was Robin of Locksley.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and started sobbing into his shirt, "You never came. I feared you had died."

"No. I did not. I'm sorry. I wanted to but I was outlawed. I could not have dragged you into my mess." I clung to him harder.

"Will I thought...I feared our father had killed you." he said, prying me off and holding me out in front of him.

I shook my head, my ponytail flying everywhere. "Robbie. Father, Father is dead. He has been for seven years. The Sheriff had Sir Guy burned down the house with him passed out drunk in it. He had refused to give use of his troops. He told 'im. I overheard. He told 'im he promised Mary. He promised her that he would only support King Richard's rule. He still kept his promise to her. I found the house on fire. I sat in the ashes for three days. Then Angel found me and brought me to Warren and Ella and it's been us four since."

"If I had known. Will, I'm so sorry. If I had known...I would have found you." Robbie hugged me again and I cried softly into his chest.

Pulling away, I laughed a little, "I did not cry after you left, except once, when the manor was destroyed. Not when Father beat me or when I cut myself with my knives or fell out of the trees. But I have known your friends for five days around and I've been unconscious for three of them and cried the other two."

He laughed as well, "Yes. When my men told me about you, I was expecting some tough girl with a sharp tongue and sharper knives. Instead I find the sobbing mess of my sister playing dress up."

I punched his shoulder, "I could still whip you."

"Well, we can test that later." he turned to address the crowd, "Men! This is my little sister, Will. I suggest you do not make her angry. She is just as dangerous as you all speculated yesterday. And she will be staying with us until further notice. And none of you better try anything either!"

At that moment, my belly complained again, louder than before.

"Alright now.. Move aside. Yes that means you too, James. Let me through!" Friar Tuck popped back out from behind Little John, "This girl hasn't eaten since morning four days ago. Let her to the pot."

"No, it's fine, really. I'm used to it. No. I don't need any. Really." I stopped protesting when he shoved a bowl into my hands.

"Eat, child. You are far too skinny." ordered the (rather pushy and rude for a man of God) friar.

I ate a bite tentatively before my willpower was lost and I began shoving it down my throat as quickly as it would go.

"Calm down, Girl. We have plenty. You can eat slower."

Swallowing a big lump of meat- rabbit?- I have him a small glare, "My name is not Girl. It's Will."

"Yes, but there is already a Will in camp. See over there? The blonde one that looks to be around 13? He's actually 15. His name is Will Stutely. Besides I'm used to calling you Girl now."

"Haha." I said scarfing down another spoonful of the soup, "So how did you and Robbie meet? You seem awfully close."

"Robbie? Oh yeah, Rob. It was maybe ten years ago. Well we both wanted to cross this bridge you see. It was more like a thick tree trunk but anyways, neither of us wanted to give way to the other and I challenged him to a duel. He tried to draw his bow but me, being the smart, sensible one pointed out that he was threatening me with an arrow, while all I had was me staff. So he cut a good sized cudgel for himself and agreed to the fight-"

"Wait. You were going to fight over who got to cross a bridge first?"

He shrugged, "It was about defending our honor! If one of us had given, we would have lost some dignity."

"It was a bridge, Little John. Why didn't you just cross while he was getting a staff" I asked laughing a bit.

"There is no dignity in dishonest trickery."

I snorted, "Men."

"Quit interrupting. As I was saying, Rob and I met in the middle of the bridge each with our staffs held firmly."

I stifled another laugh. It still seemed ridiculous.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "_Anyways_. It was clear your brother had never used one before. He fought bravely. But eventually I swept his feet out from under him and he fell into the river. I thought he would be angry or something. Most people would be, ya know? But he just laughed and blew that horn at his hip." He pointed to it, a shiny brass mini trumpet, "Three blasts. That's his signal. We all have one that we use if we need others to come. Right after he pulled himself out, David of Doncaster," he pointed to the man I had dodged around yesterday, "Much, the miller's son," he moved his finger so it pointed at the boy that chased me, "and Arthur-A-Bland," This time it was a handsome man who was laughing with (who I assumed to be) a minstrel, "had jumped on me and were waiting for Rob's orders. But he just laughed and told them, 'I love it when I meet someone who can best me' he said. Then asked my name. They poured a tankard of ale on my head as a baptism of sorts and renamed me Little John."

I stared at him for a few seconds before my body convulsed into a fit of laughter, "You two are the biggest dunderheads ever." I said trying not to upturn our suppers as I shook.

His hand raised to ruffle my hair and I flinched when it neared my face, moving back a little, all laughter gone.

Little John looked at me then at his raised hand, realization dawning on his face, "Will, I did not mean to make it seem like that. I swear." He gasped.

"No. It's fine. I'm fine." I said quietly.

"Will, please. I honestly didn't-"

"I said I am fine." I said a little too loudly. People glanced over at my tone and Robbie rose from where he was sitting with Tuck when our eyes met.

"I'm fine." I repeated with my voice at a normal level again. _Deep breaths, Will, girl. Just breathe._

Oh Lord, I was panicking again. _Not again. Not in front of them_. I prayed.

"Um, Will, are you sure." Little John looked concerned.

"I. I…" I stood up and scurried up the tree we were under until I was concealed from view. Taking deep breaths I straddled the branch and leaned back against the sturdy trunk. Even seven years later, he was still haunting me. I slowly closed my eyes, _Please, please Lord. Don't let them hate me. I just found Robbie again. Don't let them make me leave. Please._

"Will?" asked a voice from beside me.

I jumped and stifled a small shriek. The boy, the other Will, was sitting on the branch in front of me.

"Holy Christ, how did you get up here?"

"I like to climb trees too. Little John gave me a lift to the first branch because I cannot jump the way you did. That was really high."  
I smiled at him, "I have been climbing trees my whole life. That is why I am so good at it. Trees do not yell or hit or ask questions."

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"You just did, but go on,"

"If your dad abused you so much, why did you not leave?"

I looked at him, "I don't know. I could have found a place to stay I suppose, but after he forced out Robbie, I was all he had left. My mom was dead, and I didn't know what had become of my brother. We only had each other."

"But he beat you."

"Almost to death some nights." I nodded.

"So you were all _he_ had left but why did you choose to stay?" he asked curiously.

I shrugged and picked at the bark, "Did you hear? What I said to Robbie about his argument with Sir Guy?" I asked looking at him. He shook his head, "I was in the back. I was shoved there for being the youngest."

I smiled faintly, "My father refused to give what small army he had over to the stupid Prince. His argument was that he swore to Mary that he would only support the true ruler, Richard."

Will looked mystified.

"Mary was my mother." I explained softly, "Even after she died, even after drinking more alcohol in one night than a horse does water in a whole day, everyday for years, he still remembered his promise to her. After he said that, Guy punched him in the stomach and face and left. I found him bleeding in the entrance hall, crying. And when he saw he, he hugged me and touched the bruises on my face and apologized over and over, saying how hard it was. He said I looked just like her. And I knew it was harder on him than me so we just sat there and he cried. That is when I realized that my father was still in there. The next morning, before I left the house, I noticed him already drinking. When I came back, well there was nothing to come back to." I threw the piece of bark I had managed to chip away.

"Oh Will." he said sadly, "I'm sorry."

I shrugged miserably before giggling a little.

"What?" he asked.

"It sounds like you're talking to yourself." i said.

He smiled, "We need to get you a new name otherwise whenever people call for Will, it is going to get confusing."

"Wait a moment. Why do I need the new name? I was born first!" I said indignantly.

"Yes, well I was in this forest first." He shot back.

"Fine, but it better sound amazing." I huffed.

"Will! How ya doin' up there?" I heard Robbie's voice.

"Fine!" we both called back. "Wait which one?" I asked.

"Does it matter?" Little John shouted.

"YES!" Will Stutely and I cried simultaneously.

"Well both of you get down here! Important news has just reached us!" he yelled back.

We grinned at each other, and while he chose to go down branch by branch I dropped through a gap. Landing in a crouch I rolled on impact.

"Will!" Tuck gasped, "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Robbie laughed, "My sister has been doing stunts like that since she learned to walk. Now, I believe a meeting is in order."

**OK! I hope that was better!**

**Um, yeah a couple questions now:**

**1. Rate! Did you: like it? love it? hate it? eh it? and why?**

**2. What needs to be improved?**

**3. in the next chapter, should I skip ahead a couple months or should I skip only a week or so?**

**4. Who is your favorite character so far?**

**5. Have you seen The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood (starring Errol Flynn) ? **

**REVIEW! CRITIQUE! IUDICAT!  
**

**-MUNS14**


	3. Chapter 3

**ALRIGHT HEY!**

**so I did promise someone to update this week.**

**BUT.**

**My story is now saved on Google Drive, which is being an ABSOLUTE asshat right now. or fanfiction is. either way, because its Google docs i have to use copy n paste, but whenever i paste it it comes out all funky with pieces missing or words and stuff in the completely wrong order.**

**I don't know how to fix this so if one of you does, please tell me! otherwise my dad will have to figure it out this weekend and i wont update until next week.**

**I do apologize.**

**-MUNS14**

**OK****, so spell check insists that MUNS14 should be MUNSTER so i think I'm going to use that at the end of author's notes and chapters cuz its awesomer sounding than MUNS14. okay, now bye.**

**-Munster**


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